Improvement in welt-guides for sewing-machines



A H. FOLSOM.

Welt Guide 'for Sewing Machines;

No. 39,474. v Patented Aug. 11, 1-863.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HANNIBAD FOLSOM, OF MILFORD, MASSAUHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN WELT-GUIDES FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,474, dated August 11, 1863.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, HANNIBAL FoLsoM, of Milford, county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Welt- Guide for Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that thetbllowiug,taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

This invention consists in an adjustable welt holder and guide to be applied to sewing-machines, serving, in combination with the usual edge-gage, for the purpose of properly inserting and guiding the welt that it may be sewed to and between the adjacent edges of a bootleg.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings as applied to the table-plate of a sewing-machine.

Figure 1 represents a top view of the same; Fig. 2, a section through theline was in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a section through 2 2, Fig. 1 Fig. 4, a section through 3 y, Fig. 1.

In the drawings, A denotes the table-plate; B, the edge or gage bar, made and applied to the table in the usual manner for guiding the edges to be stitched. On one side of this gage B, I place the welt-guide O. The part thereof through which the welt passes is made with a bottom plate, a, and end wall, I), and a top plate, 0, the distance between the surfaces 6t and 0 being such as to allow welts of different thicknesses to glide easily through, while sufficient friction or tension is produced upon the welt by a spring, g, which, projecting through the lower plate, a, presses the welt against the surface 0. The welt is represented by red lines at s, and the edges between which it is to he stitched are denoted by r and t. The rear end of the plate 0 flares upward, so as to make a mouth or opening, d, for introducing the-welt. The plate h, to which the weltguide is attached, or of which it forms a part, is confined at the rear end by an adjustingscrew, 7:, and slot k to a small rocker shaft, I. This shaft extends into and rocks in a shaft, to, a confining-screw, at, keeping it in place and allowing it freelyto turn therein. This shaft m extends through a bearing, 0, in the gage-bar B, an adjusting-screw, 12, serving to fix the shaft in position and to regulate the transverse distance between the gage B and welt-holder O, as will be readily understood.

In the ordinary method of fixing and guiding a welt between the edges of the boot-leg and against the edge-gage B the hands are required to hold the edges up to the gage, and also to keep the welt inserted at the proper place without slipping back or riding out in front of said edges. As the welt is entirely between the adjacent sides of the boot-leg, it is to a great extent beyond the center of the operator, and being of thin and flaccid leather, while the edges 0" and t are stiff and comparatively unyielding, the Well: slips back and forth very easily. It is very desirable to have the three edges so presented to the needle that when stitched they shall be perfectly flush, as it saves much subsequent manipulation and trimming; and by using the guide 0 this is accomplished. The guide/is placed in suchjuxtapositiou to the gage B that the edges, after leaving the guide 0, are kept together by the presser-footot' the sewing-machine, and as the welt is previously cut ofan even width, or with parallel edges the abutting of the front edge of the welt against the wall I) keeps the front edge in position to correspond with the edges 1' and t as they pass the bar B, the adjust ing-slot of the guide enabling it to be carried forward or back to suit welts of different widths.

To enable the uneven thicknesses of the lower edge of the boot-leg or any seam which may be therein to pass freely under the guide,

I make it capable of a rocking motion by its connection with the shafts l and m, as described.

The spring g has an inclination given to it, as seen in Fig. 4, by which itso bears against the welt as to keep one of its edges against the wall I), thus keeping its opposite edge from sliding out beyond the edges 1' and t.

My guide differs from guides used to insert and guide cord between two surfaces of cloth, because I have to employ some means to keep the welt flat as it passes between the surfaces to which it is to be stitched, which purpose 1 attain by giving the guide the bearing-suriaces a b c, which serve, wit h the spring, to take out from the welt all kinks and deliver it smoothly and evenly, as described.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- A In combination with the gage B, the weltguide 0, made with the bearing-surtaces a b c, and with a spring, 1, or its equivalent, for keeping the welt in lateral position and tor creating tension upon it, as set forth.

Witnesses: HANNIBAL FOLSOM.

GEORGE '1. SMITH, A. M. ELLIS. 

